The Road Commission of Kalamazoo County is preparing to begin tree removal this fall as part of a federally funded road safety project.
The work is funded through Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A), a U.S. Department of Transportation grant program created under the federal infrastructure law. The Road Commission received a SS4A grant in 2024 to install low-cost safety improvements, including rumble strips, repaving, and pavement markings, along more than 130 miles of primarily rural county roads over a five-year period. The project is roughly two years into that timeline.
Tree removal is one part of that work, needed in some areas to improve visibility and safety along the road. The Road Commission said trees scheduled for removal are marked with paint, an “X” with a number, and that yellow and orange marks carry the same meaning regardless of color; some trees were remarked after an earlier round of marking, following a historic preservation review of roughly 20 sites required before work can begin. Residents with questions about a specific marked tree can contact the Road Commission directly.
Because the project spans more than 130 miles, the Road Commission isn’t sending tree removal notices for the entire route at once, only for the first phase of work. Residents in that phase are receiving letters asking whether they want to keep the wood from trees removed on their property. If a resident doesn’t respond within 15 days, the Road Commission said it will remove the wood rather than leave it along the road, citing the safety risk of leaving cut wood scattered across that many miles of roadway. Residents who do want to keep their wood will have it placed outside the road right-of-way. Anyone who spots a log they consider a hazard, whether from this project or the Road Commission’s routine tree work, can contact the Road Commission’s office to request its removal.
Officials said they expect a required federal highway amendment to be finalized within the next week or two, which would allow the tree removal and paving work to go out for bid. Tree removal could begin as soon as late October or early November.
During public comment, a Vicksburg-area resident asked the Road Commission to update its SS4A project webpage more regularly and that residents outside the direct tree-removal notification area would otherwise have no advance warning of the closures affecting them.
